Power saws are a type of cutting tool, which are useful for quickly and easily cutting material, such as construction lumber and other building products. A common type of power saw is a portable circular saw, which includes a foot plate and a circular saw blade that extends below the foot plate. Typically, a user cuts a workpiece with a circular saw by resting the foot plate on the workpiece, aligning the saw blade with a desired cut path, and then manually guiding the circular saw in the direction of the cut path, often following a marked line on the workpiece.
If not carefully guided relative to the workpiece, however, most circular saws are easily movable along a cut path that deviates from the desired cut path, making the task of accurately guiding the circular saw difficult for some users. Accordingly, some users prefer to utilize a cutting guide, which simplifies the alignment and guiding of a circular saw through a workpiece.
The typical cutting guide includes a guide surface that is positioned on the workpiece parallel to the desired cut path. In use, an edge surface of the foot plate of the circular saw is positioned against the guide surface. By maintaining the edge surface of the foot plate against the guide surface during the duration of the cutting operation the blade is guided accurately along the desired cut path.
Some circular saws however have a foot plate without an edge suitable for positioning against the guide surface of a cutting guide. Therefore, it is desirable to provide an improved circular saw foot plate that functions effectively with a cutting guide.